Players:
Summary: Some of the students enjoy the fresh air.
Date: December 19, 2012
Log Title: Cat Ears Are Awesome
Rating: Log Rating. PG-13
Xavier Mansion - Right Path
A brick path off the courtyard cuts through the grass to lead to the other areas on the outside grounds of Xavier's. There are a few benches that line the path so students can sit and enjoy outside. Either side of the path the grass is well manicured and has enough room for students to have a picnic, play Frisbee, or relax and study. At night there are small lamps that raise three feet off the ground to provide light.
Finally Nicholas has gotten the clear that he's able to go horse back riding. He's still a little slow on his leg but he's able to have the cast off, no need for a crutch or any walking assistance. He can't go running but that's what Orion is for, running. For almost six hours he's been out riding around the school grounds, mainly the woods. An hour into his ride he realized he got lost and spent the last five hours trying to figure out where he was and how to get back home. Needless to say he's a bit spooked out from being lost but he's home safely. Walking out of the woods on Orion, Nick's relieved to see the school again so he hugs the neck of his horse. "Thank goodness we're back."
Taylor is out, looking like they had just put on a light black jacket, because despite any cold, Taylor does not seem too terribly concerned about it. The felinoid student is even wearing a plaid skirt and a pair of long socks, kind of a kilt look, but clearly designed with femininity in mind. The teen blinks a few times at Nicholas's appearance and calls, "Hey, Nick, I was just about to hunt you down!"
The outdoors is not Shane's native environment, by any means. But sometimes, one has to see if the clothes one made for the winter hold up to the temperatures they're designed to fight. Thus, Shane is walking the path from the Lobby to the half-finished Dorms, wearing what appears to be a new coat; red suede with black sleeves, lined to the waist with heavy, black-dyed fleece and swishing about her ankles, with a fairly sizable lapel to show off the color contrast, she makes her hurried way along the brickwork; just because one is mostly warm, after all, doesn't mean one *enjoys* being out in the cold.
"Whoa" Nicholas says to Orion, pulling back on the reigns gently to bring his horse to a stop. He doesn't get off yet and looks down at Taylor. "Hey there Taylor, I was able to find my own way home. Got pretty lost though." He gets off of Orion who seems to be occupied with eating the grass. Digging around in his backpack, Nick takes a few sips of water. "That's a fancy looking jacket there Shane."
Kaylee is not a fan of cold weather. Not at all. However, having been cooped up in the school for so long it's good to get out… even the palest of shut-ins needs air every now and then… She is currently perched on a tree branch with someone's (maybe the school's?) borrowed laptop set across her knees; wearing an unstable molecule suit with her cat-ear hoody and sweatpants over it. And a pair of boots 'borrowed' from some fellow student, perhaps. It's a hodgepodge of mismatching garments, seeing as everything she owned was destroyed… "heey!" she calls, waving from her perch.
Taylor nods a couple of times at Nicholas and says, "Yeah, you were gone for awhile, I was starting to get a bit worried, and it never hurts to use my tracking abilities." The felinoid nods a couple of times and then glances towards Shane, nodding a couple of times and says, "Yeah, I like the look of that design, Shane. Definitely something I'd wear." The teen then waves towards Kaylee as they approach, noting, "I never get the appeal of the whole cat ears on hats." Probably because Taylor has cat ears all the time.
Shane glances up, pulling down her black wool scarf away from her mouth, raising an eyebrow at the compliments. "…Thanks," she says, somewhat diffident; a poor receiver of compliments, is she. "Get y'th'pattern. Jus' wanted t'get back'n th'swing 'fore I started on Christmas shit." Glancing Kaylee's way as the younger teen calls out her greeting, she tips her chin up, snorting at Taylor's observation. "Anime," is all she says in response, as if that word explained everything.
Nicholas waves to Kaylee in repose and offers a nod. "Hey there Kaylee." He nods to Taylor. "Yeah I know I was gone for a while. I was pretty close to panicking when I remembered my phone has a gps and found my way back from that." He pats the arm of the jacket he's wearing and grins at Shane. "Well you do make great coats. So how you holding up?"
"Because cat ears are awesome! Who wouldn't wanna be a cat? Mrow!" Kaylee asserts in a silly fashion, before climbing down the tree trunk (carefully) gripping the laptop in her left hand while holding on with the right. Somehow. "You're just lucky and spoiled, that's all!" Jokes. Everywhere jokes. "You don't understand the true glory of your feline master race!"
Taylor nods a couple of times and says, "Yeah, the patterns would be good thanks." Given that Taylor makes some of their own clothes, though not as high a quality as Shane's work, patterns are enough for Taylor. The teen shrugs lightly and then says, "Ah, yea, GPS can be pretty useful for all of that." The teen then remarks to Kaylee, a bit skeptically, "Me? Lucky and spoiled? Hmm. I guess I don't have to dress too much to keep warm, at least…"
Shane snorts at Nick, shaking her head and smirking. "Yeah well, gotta start m'closet over. Ain't got much clothes left, figure better t'fix it m'self, yeah?" With a shrug, she sidles closer to Orion and Nicholas, giving the horse a mildly distrustful look; horses are not people, and Shane clearly has no idea how to anticipate the beast's moods.
Nicholas looks up at Kaylee and raises his eyebrows in a 'what the hell was that?' manner. "Oooookay. I almost want to say Tay has the upper hand on understanding the feline race seeing that she is what she is." Orion looks up at Shane as she walks over, shakes his head making a huffing noise before going back to gnaw on the grass. The whole thing causes Nick to suppress a chuckle. "Yeah, I have to do that too, get a new wardrobe…again. Really I just need to get everything at an Ocean State Job Lot so the next time it happens I don't care about a two dollar t-shirt getting destroyed."
"Sorry… I didn't… really mean that…" Kaylee glances off to the side for a moment, shrugging, and leaning against the tree. "I just like cats, I guess. They're cute. Cat ears are cute. Anyway," she eyes Orion for the moment, watching the 'interaction' between him and Shane…
Taylor nods a couple of times and says, "I like cats well enough, myself. I like them okay. Get along with cats… or at least I used to. I think that ocelot odour scares most cats. I… embarrassingly smell kind of ocelotty, even if I do shower often…" The teen scratches the back of their neck and notes to Shane, "If you ever need my help rebuilding your closet, I mean, I'm not as good as you but I wouldn't mind the practice if you want my help…"
Shane lifts her shoulder. "Sure… Figure you'd rather have th'help puttin' *your* stuff together, though, Taylor. I mean, wouldn't mind bangin' out patterns f'r th'practice, 'n show you how t'put'm t'gether. Could do that, no problem." Glancing at Nicholas, the teen arches an eyebrow, silently expressing her disdain for two-buck factory clothes.
"Bleh," Kaylee murmurs, "I'm gonna have to hit the stores hard, myself… though, I might just wait till after Christmas. You know, when everything's gonna be a lot cheaper," she nods at Nick, sighing. "Though I haven't had this happen before, exactly, anyway."
Nicholas shrugs to Taylor. "I don't know what an Ocelot smells like but you don't smell funky or anything to me. I don't smell you at all." So he doesn't see that as necessarily a bad thing. "I can't offer you help there Shane. I can offer going out shopping when, if, this all blows over but sewing, that's not something I can help with." He looks at Kaylee and shrugs again. "Don't be sorry, there's nothing wrong with cats. They're great for keeping mice away." He puts his hands up at Shane. "Hey, I'm a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy. Sometimes a good hoodie or flannel shirt when it's cold. I'm not picky about what I wear. As long as it doesn't have cat ears." He teases.
Taylor shrugs and says, "Yeah, it'll be good to have some help putting together my own stuff but… they were able to recover a lot of my things… I think you might need more help than me putting your wardrobe back together, especially since you had a particularly kickass wardrobe…" The teen then shrugs at Nick and notes, "Ocelots smell strong. I'm glad that you don't smell me, though… means I'm doing a good job keeping clean."
"Yeah," Shane says with a quiet sigh, lifting a shoulder. "But I ain't gonna get that done f'r like, *years.* Been buildin' that up since I was thirteen, so… Mostly I miss m'stuffies more… Dunno 'f 'm *ever* gonna get'm back. 'N Nick? Y'r just too much of a dude t'give a shit 'bout clothes, 's all. Jus' cos y'r wrong don't make y'stupid, y'know?"
"I smell like horse, so who am I to judge?" Nicholas says to Taylor with a grin. "It's not as bad this time around Kaylee, I wasn't really attached to much except this jacket and it survived so I'm grateful for that." He really does love his Shane made jacket. "Cause I'm too much of a dude. Well I was born male Shane so I think 'too much of a dude' is a compliment."
Kaylee giggles at that last bit, though it gives her a slight amount of pause… "Well, that's good, at least. I'm still trying to get everything back in order… I'm gonna have to get more computer stuff too… bleh. I'll do something special this time. I think," she nods once.
Taylor nods quickly and says, "Yeah, I know, it'll be a long time to rebuild but… that's just why I want to help, 'cause that'd make it go that much faster. I know that if I lost so many of my crafted clothes… even if most of it's for dolls… I'd want help." The teen then says, "Really, if any of you need any help with that stuff…" Taylor feels a bit guilty that their stuff is mostly intact.
"Well," Shane murmurs, scratching the back of her head, "sure. …Ain't gonna get started 'till after th'new year, though, so, yeah." Looking at Nick, Shane raises an eyebrow, snorting. "….Yeah, that's cos you're a dude. So anyway. Y'horse doin' okay?"
Nicholas lets the 'girls' talk about clothes and walks over to Orion. The chestnut quarter horse lifts his head and he takes it in his hands, pressing his forehead against Orion's muzzle, who in turn nuzzles him a bit. Nick pats Orion on the neck a few times before slipping him a piece of carrot to munch on. He looks over at Shane and nods. "Yeah, we both needed that ride today, he was getting a bit grumpy with me."
"So that's the solution when a horse gets grumpy? Does he like being ridden?" Kaylee wonders, "I guess he gets to go out and see interesting things when you go for rides, for sure…" she trails off, eyeing Nick's leg, "It's good that you're better, though. A lot better than being… not… better…" she finishes awkwardly, rubbing one arm with the other one.
"I still can't climb trees or anything, my sides are still really sore," says Taylor, before blinking a few times, "Er, not that climbing trees is really a big deal, I guess…" It's a big deal to Taylor. The teen glances off and then notes to Shane, "Alright, then, after the new year, then."
Shane bobs her head at Taylor, looking back to Nick. "Good t'hear. Takin' a helluva lot less time than it did b'fore, f'me, an' I didn't get hurt near's bad as you two… Figger maybe by new years, we're gonna be okay." Looking at Kaylee, the teen shrugs slightly. "'S like havin' a friend that don't call f'r weeks, I guess?"
"Thanks Kaylee. I've still got a bit of a limp but for the most part, I'm better." Nicholas says letting Orion nuzzle the shoulder of his jacket. "It's not that as much Orion's getting to go outside, stretch his legs and it's a bonding between horse and owner. Anyway, yeah, I mean my leg and ribs still hurt when I move too much but nothing compared to before."
"Hrm…" Kaylee nods, thinking of a certain friend she hasn't really called since the troubles began… Maybe she ought to? "I like climbing trees. I've gotten pretty good at it since I became a mutant…" she trails off. "Well, climbing everything, really. It's fun! So I totes feel you there," she nods.
Taylor nods towards Kaylee and says, "Climbing's alright, it feels a bit safer up in trees, even if that's kind of an illusion…" The teen shrugs a shoulder lightly and then says, "But yeah, I'm getting better, I shouldn't just cringe at the thought of jumping through the branches or anything…"
"Meh." Shane says to Taylor's self-admonishment. "Figure y'prolly wanna wait 'till you ain't gonna fuck anything *back* up, 'n anythin' y'break'll be different, y'know? Just sounds smarter that way." Shivering, she glances about at the chill night air, then back to Nick, raising an eyebrow. "….THinkin' I wanna get in… Want me t'follow you t'stables, Nick? Dunno 'f y'horse's getin' cold 'r not."
"Well I gotta go. I gotta get Orion to the stables, groom him, make sure he has enough feed and all that before it gets too dark out." Nicholas says noticing the sun is already starting to go down. Darn winters and their early nightfalls. "Have fun climbing those trees." He says to Taylor and Cale. "If you want to come along Shane, I don't mind the company, and yeah, Orion gets cold. That's why I'll turn on some of the electric heaters in the stable and give him a blanket." He grabs the reins of Orion and starts to lead the horse to the Stables with Shane alongside. "Take care you two!"
Cale gives the two departing teens a wave, then turns to Taylor for a moment, "I don't really get that feeling, I guess. You should be careful with those ribs though…" she trails off. "Don't push it too hard."
Taylor headtilts slightly and then says, "Oh, yeah. I get a lot of feelings that I don't really understand…" The felinoid shrugs lightly and then says, "Yea, I'm kind of avoiding doing anything stupid… broken ribs are pretty serious I guess."
"Hrm. I guess that would make sense…" Kaylee nods, leaning back against her tree. "Though, I think that goes for everyone kinda…" she tilts her head back and forth thoughtfully, "Well, maybe not, I dunno. I can't say, for everyone."
"Well, I mean, they're feelings that are unfamiliar I guess is what I mean…" says Taylor, scratching their neck lightly. The ocelot headtilts and then remarks, "I think most people become kind of familiar with their feelings over the course of their lifetime. I might head in, Kaylee. Have a good evening."
Cale nods; waving as Taylor leaves… she's not quite ready to go in yet, as she heads further into the forest, down the path.
